Blizzard wrote:When we initially designed and implemented the auction houses, the driving goal was to provide a convenient and secure system for trades. But as we've mentioned on different occasions, it became increasingly clear that despite the benefits of the AH system and the fact that many players around the world use it, it ultimately undermines Diablo's core game play: kill monsters to get cool loot. With that in mind, we want to let everyone know that we've decided to remove the gold and real-money auction house system from Diablo III.
Blizzard wrote:Please note that the shutdown will occur on March 18, 2014.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/10974978/
As much as I like the change (and many of the upcoming changes) I feel that it's too little, too late. I still got my money's worth from the game but I got even more out of Torchlight 2, personally.